Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Daphne]

I need some assistance! My youngest nephew has suspended his degree as he seems to have lost interest in it (I can't quite get to the bottom of why) and is currently working P/T in a pub, which apparently he is quite content with. He has a bit of previous here as he gave up working for his A levels and just s"Ooops, word censored!"ed them, then spent 2 years out travelling and in supermarket jobs, before starting at Uni in Oct 2012. Things have come to a head as my mother is paying his tuition fees, but has only just discovered what has occurred. We want to be able to help him with some positive suggestions about what he might like to consider doing next especially as it appears he may be considering either returning to this course or doing something else, but it is not clear that he really keen on pursuing anything in particular, and as you all know, the cost of education is so high. We would like to be as well informed as to ALL his options as we can be. My knowledge is so out of date, I can't think what to suggest, although I have thought about modern apprenticeships, or possibly paying for some careers counselling.

[Willow]

Gosh that's a difficult one. Is there some relevant work he could get in the same field as his studies ? that could re-ignite his interest and help provide some focus.

If he just s"Ooops, word censored!"ped his A-levels he may have found the degree just too hard, uni is not the cushy number some of the tabloids would have you believe .

 

However really he needs to get the focus himself, support and coaxing won't work unless he gets motivated as well.

[merlina]

Before you can help him, you really need to know the exact status of his course.

 

How many credits (years) has he completed? Has he deferred for a year? Has he, in fact, chosen to defer or has he been suspended for some reason (in my experience students are very keen to fudge the latter!)

 

We see a lot of students drop out. Usually it's because they really shouldn't be at Uni. That's because they just aren't mature enough and should have taken a year or two out; or because they didn't research the subject properly and just 'fell into' something that's really not suitable for them; or because they don't want to be/aren't committed to being there and are only there because of parental pressures etc.

 

If he has completed either one or two years successfully, he can take an 'exit award' which would be a certificate or diploma of higher education, respectively. Or he could go back and complete his degree (I wouldn't recommend that unless he discovers a passion for his course); or he could see if he could transfer to something else more suitable where his current completed credits would count for a year of the 'new' degree.

 

Almost all Unis have fantastic careers and counselling support. He really needs to be using this/talking to tutors to decide what he wants to do next.

Generally careers advice outside Unis is pretty poor (apologies to any fantastic careers consultants on here!).

[patsylabrador]

Perhaps he needs to travel. Some people just have itchy feet. He's young and the world is so accessible these days. He could get working visas and have some adventure and gain experience that way. Students and other young people can for example get temporary visas for seasonal work in America or Australia. Maybe that would help him see his path.

Is he being directed into an academic life that he doesn't really want?

Or he could join the forces.

[Mercedes55]

I would agree with Merlina in that it's best to find out exactly what the status of his course is. I had a similar problem with my son when he was at uni. He was supposed to go back after the Christmas break but kept putting it off and making excuses and then just confessed that he wasn't going back. Turned out eventually that the actual problem was that he had got an HND and then gone to uni to do a 1yr top up degree course but the other students on his course were at a different level to him and he felt out of his depth. With hindsight I am sure this could have been sorted out, but my son let it go on for so long that he just ended up doing temp work for an agency instead.

 

The good news though is that despite not getting his degree he now has a very good job as an Accounts Manager for a large company, which shows to me that having a degree is not always essential to getting a good job

[Daphne]

Thank you everybody for your replies - if anybody else has any other ideas I'd be grateful to hear them.

 

Merlina & Mercedes - I think you are right about discovering exactly what went on with his course and what status he has left it in. There are some family complications concerning this, but we will try to get to the bottom of it. My gut feeling is that he shouldn't go back/transfer to another degree course, as there doesn't seem to be much evidence he really wants to be there, which chimes with your comments Merlina. My sense is that he has no clear ideas about what he wants to do (I don't blame him for that, I was the same), so I'm trying to think of how we might help him positively discover possible avenues.

 

PatsyLabrador - He has already travelled extensively and done the odd bit of work, and there was no parental pressure to go to Uni in the first place, maybe he wants to explore more, which is fine if he can afford to do it. Actually, that has given me an idea, so thanks for that! I can suggest the Armed Forces, he is active and likes adrenaline sports, but I'm not at all sure he's cut out for military discipline